Reliving drama of San Jacinto

Archaeologists bag a musket ball. They hope the survey gives more clues about how the Texas soldiers surprised the Mexican army.

Photo By Photos by James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle

HRA Gray & Pape's David Treichel (from left), Tony Scott and William Fee work with metal detectors and survey equipment to search 98 acres at the San Jacinto battleground in LaPorte.

Photo By Houston Chronicle

HRA Gray & Pape's crew chief David Treichel left, and senior field technician William Fee work with metal detectors to search 98 acres at the San Jacinto battleground Friday, April 12, 2013, in La Porte . The work is as a preliminary step to workers re-seeding the grounds with native grasses. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle )

Photo By Houston Chronicle

HRA Gray & Pape, Principle Investigator-Archeology, Tony Scott cleans a sifting screen during a of search 98 acres at the San Jacinto battleground Friday, April 12, 2013, in La Porte . The work is as a preliminary step to workers re-seeding the grounds with native grasses. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle )

Photo By Houston Chronicle

HRA Gray & Pape, Project Archeologist Charlie Bludau swings a metal detector over a hole where a musket ball was recovered during a search of 98 acres at the San Jacinto battleground Friday, April 12, 2013, in La Porte . The work is as a preliminary step to workers re-seeding the grounds with native grasses. ( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle )

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Reliving drama

of San Jacinto

Free Houston-area events are planned to commemorate the 177th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto.

HOUSTON — The San Jacinto battleground is alive with seagulls' mad cackling and mosquitoes' whine as a small group of men, armed with metal detectors and cutting-edge laser technology, plods through a soggy field that once stood between the armies of Sam Houston and Santa Anna.

One hundred seventy-seven years ago this Sunday, the roar of cannon and the pop of muskets joined nature's chorus. The battle's cacophony again will echo in coming days as Texas celebrates its independence in lectures, battle re-enactments and a solemn service at the battleground monument.

On this azure-skied Texas morning, though, these men — archeologists with HRA Gray & Pape — yearn to hear nothing through their headphones but the beep indicating they may be standing over a meaningful piece of history.

They are conducting one of the largest archaeological surveys ever performed in or around the 1,200-acre historic site, one that could provide new insight into the path Texas soldiers took in their charge toward the surprised Mexican army.

When archaeologists and volunteers finish in late May, the 98-acre field will be planted with the type of prairie vegetation that was present in 1836.

“We believe they ran across here shooting,” says Ruth Matthews, a cultural resource coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which oversees the battleground. Maps made by San Jacinto veterans exist, but just where the charge occurred remains in question.

Archaeologists spent days preparing the site, using surveying equipment to divide the land into grids. Now, with devices able to find metal objects down to 8 inches below the surface, they hope to locate musket balls and other relics.

There is reason for optimism.

'Needle in a haystack'

A 2008-09 metal-detector search of a small privately owned tract by Moore Archaeological Consulting Inc. revealed where Mexican soldiers surrendered. About 800 artifacts were recovered, including bayonets and uniform insignia.

Still, says Jim Hughey, Gray and Pape's regional manager, “It is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Early sweeps turned up cans, wire fragments and construction scrap.

Complicating the project is the site's sheer size and the nature of its terrain. The heavy clay soil, says Hughey, “almost churns,” carrying buried artifacts with it.

The field probably has never been plowed, but the ground may have been altered by 20th-century construction projects. A road traverses the site and power transmission towers march across the landscape. In places, feral hogs have rooted up soil.

“Finding an artifact is one thing,” says Matthews. “Finding it in an intact site is another.”

Certainly, says Parks and Wildlife biologist Andy Sipocz, the site little resembles its natural state. When Texan and Mexican troops vied for victory, as many as 300 native plant species covered the field of battle.

Some types of prairie grass would have grown as tall as 12 feet, Sipocz says. Using seeds gathered from patches of unmolested prairie in the Houston area, he hopes to return about 100 lost species to the site.

Hard work, plus hope

As Sipocz and Matthews stroll the tract, archaeologist Tony Scott leads colleagues in a search near the road.

A sweep by Charlie Bludau's metal detector scores a “eureka moment” as it beeps a find. Probing with a trowel, the team nudges a musket ball, likely fired by a Mexican weapon, from the earth.

Scott fills in his log: Area B. Section NW. Target ID 12.3.

Out comes a shovel, and digging begins. Sticky mud — Lake Charles clay left over from the last ice age — bumps into the wire mesh of a desk-drawer-sized sieve. Fingers smear through the viscous mess in search of historic treasure.

“It's not easy to find something in this type of clay,” Scott sighs. “It just doesn't lend itself to screening or hand-sorting. Sometimes, though, you get lucky: An artifact falls right out.”